Surround Yourself With Like-minded Individuals…

One of the catch-phrases about being a member of a Chamber of Commerce is ‘surround yourself with like-minded individuals…’ Those simple words have many different meanings. Here’s what we mean…

1. These other business owners are also your customers.
It’s easy to think that because the person you’re talking to works at a bank or is a hair-stylist that he/she is only interested in talking about their business. However, that is not always the case. At the end of the day, you are talking to a person that knows a person that knows a person. A Chamber of Commerce is there to create an environment for you to promote your business and make you successful.

2. Your competition can also be your closest ally.
Unless you are a massive organization, you will (hopefully) run into the situation where you simply can’t take on any more business at the moment. You never want to turn business away, but what if you could send a client to a business that holds your same standards? Your customer is happy, the other business is happy and eventually the favor will be returned to you! A Chamber is a resource for you to meet these business owners and create relationships with them. They are one mouse click away on a member database or a hand-shake deal at a networking event.

3. Have an emergency? Who you gonna call? How about that person you met at last week’s networking event?
The dreaded burst water pipe, no heat, locked yourself out…uh oh. You can google somebody and who knows if they’ll show up or how reliable they will be. If you look them up in a Chamber database then you have something in common – you’re both Chamber members (and hopefully they won’t charge you the ‘after hours fee!’)

These are three of the major advantages of Chamber membership that often go unnoticed. Yes, the additional website listings, advertising, networking events are extremely important, but the relationships that you build with other business owners is…wait for it…priceless!

Chris Johnston
Greater Newburyport Chamber of Commerce & Industry